Oakley: Woman rescued from one-alarm house fire

OAKLEY -- One woman was rescued from a one-alarm fire Thursday that gutted her house, but the condition of her dogs remains unknown, firefighters said.

Fire crews responded to the fire on the 4900 block of Burgundy Drive at 10:34 a.m. and had it under control in 19 minutes, East Contra Costa Fire District Chief Hugh Henderson said. The blaze required 18 firefighters and five engines.

Three men pulled a woman over a backyard fence to safety before crews arrived. She refused an ambulance, but later received a ride from a relative to a hospital, Henderson said.

An Oakley couple driving to Antioch said they saw smoke from the blaze and followed it to the home, where the man pulled over and dialed 911.

"I heard screaming in the back, 'My dogs, my dogs!' " said Elmer Hanus. The back of the house "was fully engulfed" and he heard the loud crack of windows breaking when he arrived, Hanus said.

It was not immediately known how many dogs the woman had in the house.

Hanus said he and another man opened the gate to the home and found a woman covered in soot in the backyard. A third man then helped the two pull the woman over the back fence.

Three adults live in the home but two were not present at the time of the fire, according to a family member who there. Fire investigators have not determined a cause of the fire, nor did they have an estimate on damages to the property and home.